Murai felt aghast, stumbling with his face on the ground when he fell. Dust and sand got to his beak, and eyes, dirting his feathers in a mess of sand.
He found himself in a nasty position once again, as his light body caused him to be wide open right after being hit by a powerful force. This undead skeleton had a lot of physicalities hidden behind his bony body, or was the armor enchanted? It seemed likely, but Murai felt this one was stronger than the dozen of the past skeletons combined together. Its soul flame was stronger in its core, and flames swirling in a wild storm.
Its strength and dexterity were definitely high enough to push against his body, but it wasn't enough to obliterate him. That still frustrated him, but only for a brief time before he thought of some solution. Any problem can be solved with some strategy. That was one of his core rules about his Cursed Living, stemming from times when he truly needed to think about some actions.
So what if it went well this time around? Blade didn't punish him, nor did it move for the second time, cleaning him in midair where he was wide open. Anyone stronger would do it, offsetting the issue of his preparedness.
Was it part of one main problem?
No.
Mass, weight, and momentum. 3 similar things were a problem, but each followed one main factor.
Hm... This body is too light, yet powerful in some strange way anyway. I am not wondering how it flung me like a pebble since it makes sense. My body is still following physical rules, or so I would say, but this is magic shit I am talking about... This world doesn't have to make sense. Nothing does. Murai thought as he got to his feet.
I may take the hit well, but that doesn't mean that if I can't, I can take the aftermath of my wide-open body that can't counter. Future issues of this caliber may be problematic, while... Yea... I suppose caring for the Robust Defense is good, but it almost feels like a little cheat and it is that, while others can have power in a similar way. One way or another, this puts me at a large disadvantage when my body is out of my control which is an issue.
How to solve it without using precious Soul Force points? Well... precious is questionable. It is still an ability that seems too broken to not use it, but being dependent on it is truly cheap... I get that a lot.
Then, there is a balance... wings? Sturdiness and flexibility over my neck would also work. This is an issue of my living body. How to solve this issue? Eat until I am like a fucking elephant? No...
Gravity manipulation? That is space affinity already... Such force seems plausible since this species has universal affinity, yet such affinity seems a bit too complicated for me at the moment. It wouldn't make sense to force things when I have too few aspects to my power. Adding it to my beast core which already has 3 affinities right now, I am having no choice in any proper Path. Creating time to cater to gravity involves time and care. It is too early to think of the affinity beyond the common elements. A finite choice would be best... to make a Path, but not now.
Unless I have the Tome regarding the Gravity or some treasure, I should rather experiment and get used to fighting others outside of my size. That is right. What is it called? Strategy... Am I getting dumber?
He asked himself, still feeling how his body was feeling the dust and sand on the ground. Frankly, he may feel it a lot more than he liked, but his mind actually wasn't feeling much pressure. It was calm like a lake, seeing and feeling the surroundings from a rational perspective.
Strategy and use of my brain can be much better for training. Getting accustomed to my body is my main concern on all fronts. Since it is already at a point of magic and some... power over the body? I need familiarity. My injuries are more or less fixed, but mana is a problem. Working around this sort of challenging attitude would get me some advantages in the future so it makes sense. Like the one before. Assassin. Hard challenges follow the improvements. I can take advantage of that one since it is still fresh, but... This weight problem is really bothersome.
Murai thought and ended up backing away after stabilizing his dirty body.
As he fled a few meters away, glancing at the burly skeleton without any care, he thought of his strategy. He didn't land with grace and even got an additional couple of meters distance between them, yet the enemy didn't use this chance to strike. The burly skeleton stood there, glaring at him.
Murai stood on his feet, looking at the enemy, that almost seemed like it was chuckling, and finding fighting against the duck hilarious. The cluttering sound of the teeth resounded in the stormy weather, making it quite a terrifying sound when dozens of other skeletons joined along.
Burly skeleton stepped forward at last, grabbing the long handle of the blade with its both thin skeleton arms. Blade looked magnificent beyond measure, with sturdy forged steel of quite a tough style and mass. It had nice polish along the distinct sharp edge that was noticeable at a glance. It was still glistering clean with not a single crack, or chop on its sharp edge through the many centuries of resting under the soil or somewhere else.
It was hard to tell its origin, but its Grade wasn't the smallest. It was definitely ranging in the Grade of Cs for Level 30s or 40s, but it was a weapon. Anyone could use them, even when one's level was in the 10s. That would only mean their efficiency wouldn't be that great for this sort of weapon, while the basic value of the weapons was defining their potency. Grades worked the best in that way, while the level was a rough estimate of its usability. Usually, the Grade was what mattered the most, while the level was determining the range of the usability.
Murai observed the blade, noticing a few characteristics about it. There were a few spots and issues on the blade but it wasn't on its sharp edge. It was at the side, where were clear bite marks along a couple of cracks and two clawed strikes, creating 8 lines around the side. It made it more unique and gave the blade a certain charisma without causing a major deficit to it. They weren't enough to cause the edge to become rolled or cracked.
It was questionable if it didn't have some internal damage, which may affect the blade's sturdiness as a whole. It was still a strong blade because of its mass. Its weight was in tens of kilograms for sure, while it had a long handle and an even longer blade with quite some thickness. The marks at the side seemed as if it was the intention of the maker to make the blade that way, but it wasn't the case.
The claw marks were residual damage of either, the last foe of its wielder, the last kill, or it was from meeting a challenger like Murai.
However, none of these was something that Murai cared about. There was only one thing that mattered. When he was an issue, he may as well use it to his advantage. He didn't really care about the blade itself. Why would he? He had his own Mana Blade, which may or may not be enough to go against this tough and sturdy metallic blade, but he had all intentions of trying to challenge it.
Now, that he understood it, he loved it. This situation was absolutely fantastic to start to get him to feel and thrill of battle started. Him, of this living, that was.
Smiling for God knows how, he didn't care about the other undead who were eyeing him like prey. They might have caused some distress for unfamiliar challengers, but Murai saw the surroundings well enough. None of them came forward, followed the burly skeleton's footsteps, or even took a step forth.
That was the rule of this place, it seemed. One wave at a time.
That was it.
The present situation turned out to be a duel, much to his satisfaction and fear to take some backstabs. Before, it was 3 versus 1, which he won because those basic undead skeletons were among the weakest opponents around. They were around level 10 of this Temple's high standards, with enchanted bones and stronger swords than one would normally have.
Levels were always peculiar knowledge. No level was the same throughout the continents. Sometimes the Class mattered more while other times the equipment overlapped the common sense. Grades of abilities, talents, and the power over magic usually made things more lively and complicated.
Murai's 3 previous opponents were Class E - Enhanced Skeletons. They were weak undead in terms of level, but their bones were strong, giving them unnatural prowess that can cause problems to enemies twice their level. It was no wonder since this temple was their honing home. The terms of Class E of this level weren't normal.
Everything weak in levels usually started at Class F, with more having better powers and options for their path. For a best-to-be Grade E, or even D at the level of 10s, it meant a unique bloodline, unique physicality, or everything combined together. It depicted anomalies of rare and special species or bloodlines.
The challengers who came to this sort of location didn't care for such foes as level 10, even though they were rare than the normal ones outside. Undead monsters weren't a rarity, and these may not be normal, but they were weak in comparison to any Challenger. If they would struggle, then they would have no right to go into the Temple itself. In fact, they wouldn't even get to the Death Valley, or reach this Welcoming Party.
Murai was yet to step forwards. He was yet to gain the amends for his challenge and still needed to kill more Waves or reach the threshold of successful accomplishment of a Welcome Party. None talked about it. Not even Lisa, but he figured he should fight to get it right.
He viewed this burly skeleton with some interest. For once, this enemy seemed to enjoy the duel and wasn't desirable in opening his innards. “Well, what to do with you?” He wondered out loud, thinking of some way to start a proper duel.
He knew how, long before he started.
Because of the lack of his reach, the basic premise of the Sharpness and his magic was the perfect excuse to use his Mana Blade. They may not be the finest to go against the metallic blade of this caliber, but he shall see how his current version will fare. Generally, the Mana Blades of rough or initial phases in magic weren't a good choice for such a situation. To go against a heavy metallic blade, one would have to have densely shaped mana or a tight affinity to Sharpness.
They would be enough to cut things apart, but expecting defense or high physicality to go against the physically stronger blade wasn't that clever. Add to that some uniqueness about the blade or the wielder, then it could become harsh. Thankfully, the burly skeleton had no mana core. It had simple waves of strange mana fluctuations around the bones like the others had.
Everything depended on the Shaping, Conjuration, and how the mage would work around the blade itself. The Mana Blade could damage the physicality of many foes and the attack would be even better in many cases than the physical one. After all, mana was flexible, while the physical sword may be clunky, dependable on the experience, body strength, reflexes, quality, and so on.
There were many variables and Murai thought of hundreds in a couple of moments as he observed the foe.
Mana Blade would create some good things. In a speedy flash of swiping and cleaving, it was possible to do a lot of things around his sight. Murai knew the Laws of the Sharpess and Blade like the Laws of Flames, but his body wasn't one to wield the Laws yet.
His mind knew of that concept, making the magic more appealing, but basic. Its history was more on the warring side of magic, with few mages actually caring a lot about the Sharpness. After all, there was an issue with the Mana Blades and countless other variants of weapons.
Why Shape something out of mana, when the physical ones would fare better in almost any way? There was an equally impressive amount of powerful metals on the planets within the River of Manaflow as the amount of powerful magic. That was the fundamental truth about the matters of Mana Blades.
They weren't meant to obscure the swords, as they weren't meant to do that from the very beginning. Only higher stages would fare better.
That gave rise to an intricate question. What came before? Magic or blades? In the path of the River of Manaflow, it was hard to tell the right guess, but the metal usually prevailed as the first choice.
Mana can improve them too, giving the ores unique properties and magic could then enchant the blades. That was equal to creating magical equipment and swords, so the desire to shape and fight with nonphysical swords or blades didn't make sense to a lot of mages.
It meant that the physical swords were quite powerful and equal to even ancient and powerful magic, while magic exists just because of the River of Manaflow. Murai knew this truth, but he liked to be unconventional because of the usual stubbornness of his living.
For once, this truth wasn't all that useful for him and in fact, it went out of his mind. That truth wasn't his current truth. He didn't need to care about that old concept that was familiar, truthful, and right. After all, things can change and the universe was vast. The core of the Sharpness and Shaping of the weapons was quite important to him because he had no fucking hands.
It was a reasonable thing to rely on unconventional concepts.
After all, having the ability to conjure and Shape a dagger out of nowhere seemed convenient enough, there were some disadvantages. It was as if the heavens wouldn't allow the mana to become stronger than the metallic blades. It seemed like an honest fact as the mana did cater to the metal more, while the Mana Blades weren't ever natural. They were constructs of magic made and created by mages of the ancient past.
But Murai wanted to see it because he wanted it. He needed it. The power of his Mana Blade didn't matter to him, as the potency of his magic may make due changes in time. He already put considerable affection into them in the last week or so. It was the easiest form of upgrading two things at the same time. His Shaping, and his Mana Blade in itself.
Now, he had to harvest the results and continue on.
It was something he could use relatively easily, like in some of his past lives. He thought he had more affinity towards this sort of magic in a few of his previous lives, while the current one may or may not have the talent for it. It would go along the premise that no life was like the other. Sometimes the body stated the rules, while the Cursed Living would make up for the rest.
Murai was aware of a lot of things throughout his living. Many experiences led to many discoveries that would shake the minds of many grand mages. It put his mind on the certain push to rediscover certain memories, knowledge, and advantages about certain potentials. That was about the smallest advantage he had as an undertaker of many past lives.
Memories didn't always stick together and became foggy at some point. In this case, it was rather best to move on, while the past was the past. Murai discovered this approach to living worked the best. It may be a neverending cycle but some knowledge that would be redundant in one life would turn out to be quite useful in the other.
In this case, it was better to think of some interest and store it for later in his consciousness. His Rules were something like that.
In this sense, his knowledge turned out to be as valuable as the Laws themselves and outlived many values that even gods would envy.
However, Murai never focused on everything useful to overflow his mind. He could only hope that something will be useful at some point in the future while nothing was finite. He wouldn't worry about anything that may be useful, so he only cared about what should be already interesting. It was the context, that usually mattered, and his hunch.
Magic was among the primary knowledge that he held in high regard and meeting the world in the River of Manaflow was an important discovery. It was the wildest source of life in the universe. At least according to his memories, which made sense. Mana held countless variables in terms of fantasy, imagination, and magic.
It was interesting enough, so it was no wonder he was a complete lunatic over the mana, while this life as a duck... Well, Anatidae species, to be specific, may be more unique than he thought. Having Universal Affinity was one such weird example since it spoke of the uniqueness of the species. He only heard of having Universal affinity. He never had this sort of talent.
It was a different beginning to living than he would ever wish for, but at least it wasn't boring and was interesting in magic instead. He never wielded mana as a demonic being, while it may be unfamiliar to him right now, it may change. He may complain, and curse the gods and heavens for this, but he was secretly enjoying himself by the difficulty and this unique opportunity. A change of pace never hurt anyone, one would think.
There were very few circumstances where his life began at the very beginning of living, such as this. There were few, where his awareness of the past returned to him at ages between 5 to 8, but no more than 9 years old. It was usually the teens that changed the pace of his living, or the world.
There were also unique properties of living as a pebble and that leaf. Those were unique lives that he viewed with interest since they were in the RIver of Manaflow as well. They were almost as unique as his current life, but Murai didn't view those lives in high regard. In fact, he despised them from many points.
Now, as an Anatidae species, he was aware of his beginning. From the 20 days from his start, living as an embryo and growing duckling, it was a ridiculous prospect.
However, the end of the ridiculous thing may pass, and turn into a pleasant surprise. He patiently waited, since he was that type of a guy. A rather vocal in his annoyance, and anger, but he can swallow his pride and move on. That was at least what he assumed and felt at that moment when he woke up in the darkness.
Now, he had some experiences, yet time offered nothing much but chaos and unkept variables.
It was a time. A variable, that was always prevailing in the constant flow of the living, and this world wasn't giving him time to live. One wouldn't be able to experience a lot if one didn't have enough time. One wouldn't be able to get stronger, if one didn't have enough time. One wouldn't reach the length of one's potential if time would go against oneself.
It was an issue that put him into the endless flow of possibilities, while this life was the most confusing one he ever had.
His progress was in shambles, he didn't particularly feel the comfort of his past memories, and even though he may be something special, the world turned against him.
And he was even a duck, so he figured it was the case to pull his heart together, let it be, and move on. He will turn his stubbornness to another level if he had to and no Anatidae species will stop him from doing that. It seemed like that, as far as he understood, so Murai slammed the sand with his head and feet alike, calming his mind in a couple of moments.
Then he glared up at the burly skeleton and pulled his shit together and focused. Then, he Conjured more mana towards the Mana Blade, turning it to the same length and thickness as the opposite one.
It turned out to be the same length, yet he was unable to make the right curvature. The Shaping of his mana lacked the right flexibility, and he could tell it strained the potency of future strikes. He didn't need to experiment with it. He could tell it by his Shaping, eyes, and how the blade moved under his Shaping like a stubborn dog that was hard to calm down. It was the same with his Beast Core, but not exactly.
This was a disadvantage of his current Shaping, which needed a lot more work than he would willing to admit. Making complicated things required time, effort, and rightful control of Shaped filled Sharpness. Murai can tell his large Mana pool was incredibly useful, and even through the unfamiliar clarity over his Beast Core, it did pose fewer issues when he was forceful enough.
So, he decided to use the massive glowing sword for now. He turned it into some kind of greatsword with two sharp edges, which may pass his standards, but it wouldn't be a good slasher. Unless he would stab a foe, he was sure he wouldn't kill this undead. It wasn't that great but Murai wasn't willing to use some half-assed efforts. He created a heavy sword to see how it would fare against the physical one.
With a nearly 2 meter long-sword, Murai was like a David, before a Goliath. His body was quite smaller than the actual blade, while the enemy before him was even larger.
Though, the burly skeleton wasn't necessarily overpowering, per se. The weapon and how it would use it was.
Murai wasn't able to figure out its rough power from Mana Detection alone, but there was something he could use. It was the Soul Read, which allowed him to gouge the rough feelings of souls. Those undead were perfect for that, since they were limited in their Will, and Soul Flames were rather honest and pure soul essences.
As expected or not, the one before him had a distinct stubbornness and firmness. It was a skeleton of a former Knight, and his soul was full of anguish, and something else.
It was a restrain of some kind, but no curse.
Murai felt it. This place and not only Death Valley. This whole Seventh Death Forest was like a huge prison to any undead being and other things... probably. He didn't like to guess things.
Something conscripted the Undead Knight, putting its soul towards eternal despair, in some strange sense of bonding, or it was an offer? Lost best? Willing servitude? Loss of oneself? A forceful clutch of a soul formed into a skeleton?
Murai was thinking for a couple of seconds, yet before he knew it, the Undead Knight attacked as if he felt his soul was under someone's gaze. He didn't like it, even though his Will was long subdued and his soul wasn't even a speck of the former glory. It was an instinct. That was usually what the undead held. The shell of the former Will and glory.
Making the low, horizontal slash, the Undead Knight swiped the ground, hoping to cleave the small duck with a simple and single strike.
It wasn't fast, by any means, probably because of the large mass of the blade, and his lacking body. It was a different kind of attack that didn't use gravity to its advantage. It allowed Murai to use this to his advantage. The last strike was unexpectedly fast, but this wasn't as straightforward as it could get.
Putting his own sword to the defense, Mana Blade went against the curved blade that would cleave a few humans in half.
Ding!
A metallic sound echoed, and Murai still stood without being halved. He didn't even dodge, because he was confident in his Shaping and his Mana Blade. The clashing blades stopped less than 10 centimeters before his neck, halting and resting in a cracking Mana Blade that barely remained in its shape. The Undead Knight tried his best, yet failed to kill.
The Mana Blade was twisted, and the metallic blade almost went through it without further problems.
“Well, excuse me, Knight. I am no honorary person and you are basically asking for this.” Murai quacked out loud and jumped as he restrained the metallic blade inside of his Mana Blade, halting the retrieval of the sword by the Knight.
He didn't jump toward the knight but toward the blade itself. He let the Beak's Peak go for a couple of seconds, while the undead knight struggled to free his blade. It was a good attempt, causing more cracks and destabilization of the mana blade, but it wasn't fast enough. Murai aimed toward the scratched marks on the blade, particularly toward the bite mark.
Clank!
The Beak's Peak hit the mark, yet it didn't shatter the blade, as Murai thought it would. It only caused a single crack, halving the large blade into 2 pieces, which spoke volumes about how well-made this blade was.
Damn... I hope I will someday reach a proper ability to understand things... Since this place has such a strange system to its living. Complex and varied it is. Some Appraisal ability wouldn't hurt, but the Will of the Battleworld seems to be stubborn and does not talk... Fuck the Encounter, I guess. Murai though, and by extension, jumped once more, pouncing at the knight's stumbled body that still held the blade, but it was a poor excuse for a sword. He aimed towards the head.
He wished to finish the job, while the knight's soul turned somber over the destroyed blade. It was as if the blade was part of the knight's honor, which meant he lost the proper duel.
Murai's used the residual power of the Beak's Peak to hit the temple of the knight's skull, obliterating his head to pieces. It was one of the weakest parts of the human skull, which worked fairly well, yet even then, Murai was surprised at how tough the skull was.
He felt reverberation and a huge recoil when he hit the skull with his Peak.
It put his neck, brain, and eyes in 1-second shock, before the hotness and clarity spread from his Robust Spirit, giving him deep clarity as if it didn't even happen. Upon this finish, Murai was happy it went well. He used common sense to his advantage, albeit the context of this sense was partially right. The skull of this undead was equal to a metallic anvil, even though it was a dull skull.
While the weakness was crucial, another advantage lay in his small size. Murai was able to create a great opening, and because of how light he was, his jumping height was good. He was also quite flexible because of his size, dodging the wincing half of the blade, and then striking the knight's temple. It all needed precise timing, as well as a decision to kill.
Though, why worry about killing the undead? Murai found that idea funny.
Undead Knights' headless skeleton fell to the ground, no longer able to continue. Murai did well, looking at the fallen enemy put yet another challenge to his experience.
“No need to seek the Soul Flame, I suppose. Though, who am I kidding... I am no soul mage, nor a necromancer. I could've been one, though... Nevermind.” Murai said, looking into the shattered skull that had the soul flame in its sockets. There was a small, residual color to them, but the pair of these flames was weak, falling to the sand as if possessed. It seemed the Skeleton Knight's Will died the moment he destroyed the blade.
“Well, whatever. What else? Lisa!” He quacked in a helpless manner. “Am I supposed to kill every bone in front of me or what?” Murai glanced above, looking at Lisa, who remained floating high in the air.
She was an observer, as always. She didn't want to bother Mruai too much, since the proper start of this business of coming here, was just starting. They didn't even get to the Temple yet, so she was observing things in her own interest.
“Welcoming Party is somewhat weaker than I remember. I doubt you have to kill them all so just do what you should, and the Temple will open by itself. That's how it works. After they stop coming, a message will pop into your mind, or a true guard will come, you should try your best for the Temple to gouge your strength. The enemies will become stronger and stronger until the Welcoming Party is over. Got it?” Lisa explained.
“Hm? So it is that simple? That isn't so bad at all. Great. Fine. I have no issue with fights unless I feel like winning, which was so far great. This is going to be a good sparring, I feel. Let's go!” He cheered himself and turned his blazing eyes to the upcoming enemy.